I Can Feel You
by Chelseadaggz
Summary: Emma and Regina are completely and utterly in love but the blonde still can't shake her insecurities, what happens when Regina suddenly pushes Emma away? Will the blonde sense the possibly fatal danger surrounding her love? Will she realize in time? ONESHOT but may continue if requested. -I'm rubbish at summaries by the way! Mentions of violence and abuse.


**Okay, so don't get mad at me. You all know how hard it is for me to stay on one story at a time but I am halfway through the new update for Infiltrate My Heart it's just hard because due to the amount of good reviews, favorites and follows the story has I want to keep it perfect for you all **

**Anyway this is just an idea that popped into my head today, I won't really know what it is until it's finished and I can't tell you what's going to happen because that would just ruin it now wouldn't it. It's a one shot unless I get enough requests to carry it on.**

**Emma and Regina have been together for a while now and have both established that they are completely and utterly in love with each other but on this particular day the brunette is acting quite strangely, Emma picks Henry up from school and begins to question the stability of their union when Henry becomes suspicious of Regina's real reasons for sending his blonde mother away for the night – neither can prepare for the real reason that Regina won't see them, it is to save them. Will they realize in time or is this the end for our Queen?**

* * *

"I don't know kid, that's all she said." Emma looked down at her 13 year old son with a shrug, it still amazed her that only 3 years ago she had known nothing of this amazing boy that she had given birth to but now it'd been like they had never been apart - she was thankful for that. His brow furrowed in confusion as they walked along Maine Street. His head snapped up, the level of thoughtfulness reminded Emma of their Operation Cobra days - there was no denying that this kid was smart, something the blonde could most definitely thank his adoptive mother for. "Henry, don't think too much about it, we'll just see her tomorrow instead."

His gaze then turned suspicious as he stopped to look at Emma fully, studying her features as he spoke looking for clues "did you two have a fight?"

"What? No!" she could tell he needed more but she was as confused as he was with Regina's earlier behavior. "Look kid, I went over there to take her some lunch from Granny's just like I always do," she watched as his features softened, he could tell she was telling him the truth, "she was fine when I got there, she just said that she had a lot of work that had to be done, preparation for the festival thing."

Regina and Emma had been dating for around 6 months now and things had been going great, they'd kept their relationship quiet in the beginning to save Henry from the hurt if they were to break-up and also to give themselves time to process what was happening. They had hated each other for so long, it hadn't made sense to them but after what they now referred to as 'Cabin fever' it had become clear.

* * *

**5 and a half months ago **

_"Pleaseeeeee?" whined Emma as she rested her chin on Regina's toned stomach and looked up into indifferent chocolate eyes. The brunette suppressed a chuckle as she looked upon the blonde's poor attempt at puppy dog eyes, something that had definitely been passed down onto their son. She merely raised her eyebrows in response much to Emma's frustration, "come on, we'll have so much fun together! It'll be our first trip away as a couple." her breath caught in her throat as the words left her lips, she looked cautiously up at Regina's face, to anyone else she simply looked indifferent, almost as if she hadn't heard it but to Emma she could see the invisible strings holding the mask in place. "Don't." _

_"Don't what Miss Swan?" Regina replied not breaking eye contact, she was already starting to close herself off again and it made Emma's heart ache - why couldn't things be a tiny bit easier for them? The blonde let out a resigned sigh as she sat up on the bed, there was no use trying when Regina was like this, they would only end up verbally sparring as per usual and Emma was trying to stay clear of that territory as much as possible, "look, I can tell I've freaked you out and I'm sorry, I know we haven't spoken about what's going on between us," she held a hand up to stop the retort that was more than likely to leave the brunettes full red lips, "and don't you dare lie and say it's nothing because we both know that it is something. We don't need labels to define it but we do need to be on the same page and I know that we most likely are but...you're scared...and so am I but what I have realized is that...as scared as I am...I have never once even considered running and that's how I know that whatever this is, it's definitely worth fighting for." _

_Regina was speechless, they had never spoken this frankly about their feelings and although she felt just as strongly about whatever this was, she couldn't bring herself to put it into words, to look vulnerable. She had been brought up, made, manipulated and molded into this hard shell of a person and even though she could feel that Emma had started to break down her barriers they were still there, sometimes she felt like even she herself couldn't break through them, they were so strong because she was so not. "Before you get too deep in thought Regina, just promise me you'll consider it." Regina hadn't noticed that whilst she had been thinking, Emma had gotten dressed and was standing near the door watching her, imploring with her ever changing eyes. The brunette stood and walked over to Emma with only once of the Sheriff's work shirts on, she couldn't use words to express her feelings but her lips could do more than form pretty words. She grasped the blonde's smiling face in her hands and kissed her softly, for a short moment their lips moved over each other's tenderly not needing to deepen the kiss to express the emotions they both felt and reciprocated, when they pulled away Regina had rested her forehead against Emma's with her fingers now playing absentmindedly with soft blonde curls, it was a gesture that Emma had now become accustomed to and it soothed her greatly, they were okay._

* * *

**Present **

Emma smiled as she thought back to how happy she had felt when Regina had accepted the offer to spend a weekend at a cabin vacated in the woods; Emma had found it one night when following the trail from the toll bridge that led to it. Regina had scolded her for being so stupid especially when on patrol alone, anything could have happened to her, Emma had only giggled and blushed as she realized that the brunette did genuinely care for her safety, she wasn't just some part time screw. They had spent the weekend with no electric, no cell phones, and no distractions. They had talked for hours at a time about anything and everything. Regina learnt about Emma's allergy to pineapple, something which Henry also shared, and she had also discovered that the tough girl sheriff was afraid of blood; even the sight of it turned her stomach. Emma found that Regina had no allergies but was afraid of confined spaces - a fear which the blonde reciprocated and they had found that it was for the same reason, imprisonment as children, and punishment for childish crimes.

"What can I get you guys?" Emma came out of her thoughts to find that they had somehow made it to the diner without her knowledge.

"Oh, um...I'll take the usual please Rubes and he'll have the club sandwich with an orange juice." she couldn't help but chuckle at Ruby's incredulous stare and Henry's grumble beside her. She had promised Regina that if she insisted on taking their son out for food she would at least fill him with health instead of grease. As they sat at their usual booth and Henry took a hold of her cell phone to play on one of the many apps he had clogged her phone memory with, she let her mind drift over to the white mansion and the beautiful brunette that she shared it with, god did she miss her.

* * *

**108 Mifflin Street **

The cool of the floor was a welcome adjustment for her inflamed cheek, she could taste blood in her mouth but wouldn't give him the satisfaction of seeing any signs of weakness from her, if she was going to die she was going to do it with all the dignity of the queen that she was - magic wasn't an option, she had bound hers with the help of Emma and the knowledge that she had promised her son that she wouldn't use it. That was a promise she was going to keep long after she took her last breath, she placed her palms onto the hardwood flooring of foyer and pushed herself upright, her head span slightly but it was nothing she hadn't dealt with before, her mother had been much more effective when it came to violence because she enjoyed it, the idiotic man standing over her knew nothing of true pain, true longing for vengeance, he simply wanted revenge – something Regina knew could never fill the ache within a soul. The feathers fanned into a circle and placed within a frame on the wall behind her attacker caught the brunette's eye and she fought to suppress a smile, she didn't want him to know what the picture meant to her because it truly meant a lot.

* * *

**4 months ago **

_She loved the feeling of her fingers interlaced with the blonde's, it felt like that was what they were made to do. For longer than she had cared to remember her hands were mainly used to bring about pain and destruction, to kill not comfort, to clench around a throat not curl around a giving hand. Regina had always hated her hands after the curse had broken and she was trying so hard to redeem herself. Her hands were her weapons, her empty ring finger was simply a reminder of the love she had lost and the reason she had ruined her own life, blackened her own soul. Now however, her hands served as a reminder of the love she could give, the soft caresses she placed upon Henry's face to show the adoration she had for him and the appreciation for his unwavering trust now within his adoptive mother, he truly had saved her in more ways than he would ever understand. Her hands served as ways of communicating to Emma the love she had for her, it had only been a month and neither had said it yet but they could both feel it. With every touch she gave and received from the blonde, they felt it seep into their skin and fill every crack in their broken hearts. _

_She looked up as she heard the caw of the gulls flying above them, Regina had always admired birds. When she was younger she had dreamed of nothing but becoming a dove and flying far away from the hell of her childhood – she could discover new lands, fly so far up into the air that the world looked as small as the palm of her hand, she could fly so low over the water letting her wings skim across breathing in the soothing salty air. As a teenager she had used the birds to carry messages of her love to Daniel, communicating in the only way available to them in those days when they were so scared of Cora finding them – something Regina regretted, she couldn't help but wish that they had taken every moment available to them, taken advantage of every second they were able to spend together but how was she to know the outcome of saving a young girl's life. No matter how much Regina tried to she couldn't regret saving Snow White, it had taken a long time but with the help of Henry and Emma and the love they so freely gave her she had come to accept that Snow was just another of the pawns in her mother's warped battle for the throne and ultimately Rumplestiltskin's twisted little game. As an adult she had reverted back to her childhood and simply admired the freedom of the birds, the way they seemed to be pumping their wings manically one second fighting to keep airborne and the way they simply glided through the air when they needed their rest – it was something she found she could be jealous about, she did nothing but fight and pump her wings to stay airborne in this life, it was something she had done for as long as she could remember but whenever she tried to just rest and glide along for a while she always fell. _

_Emma had noticed her fascination and knew what the brunette must be thinking of because it was most likely the same thing Emma thought of when looking at the glorious creatures. She had begun to collect the fallen feathers as they walked along the sand, later when they had returned home and Regina had busied herself with cooking dinner for the little family, Emma had fashioned a circle made of feathers onto a piece of white cardboard, she had taken out the photo booth picture she kept tucked away in her wallet of the two women – it had been very early in their relationship and Regina had protested at the thought of something so juvenile but had relented when she saw how much it meant to Emma. They had laughed, kissed and smiled their way through the experience which is why it was so special a time to Emma, Regina had finally started to let go and was willing to let Emma in. In the picture Emma had placed her hand behind the brunette's head and pulled her forehead down to meet her lips. Regina's eyes were closed in the picture but her smile spoke a thousand words, she looked so content and the tenderness between the two was starkly evident – it was beautiful. _

_She carefully glued the picture in the middle of the circle making sure that it was as straight as possible; next she took the black biro pen next to her and wrote in as elegant a script as she could manage. _

_Later that night when she and the brunette were alone on the sofa sipping on their glasses of apple cider she had become extremely nervous when preparing to give her gift to Regina, what if she thought it was stupid? What if she laughed and called her an idiot? Emma couldn't have been more wrong. _

_Regina had been practically choking back sobs when she clung to Emma burying her face in the blonde's neck, she was overwhelmed with the sheer thoughtfulness that had gone into making her gift and she would treasure it forever, pulling away she glanced back down to her favorite part of it, the words that were written underneath the picture of the two: I will never let you fall._

* * *

**Granny's diner**

"Emma what's wrong? Why are you crying?" came the concerned voice of her mother.

Emma inhaled deeply trying to calm herself, "I…I don't know…" she knew it wasn't tears of sadness, it was of overwhelming joy but she couldn't help but pick up on the underlying feeling of loss. She also knew that these weren't her tears, "Regina."

A look of knowing crossed over Snow's face as she gave a small smile to calm Henry's nerves, he had simply been recounting his school day to Emma as they ate their dinner when she just began shaking and sobbing, he was glad that this was the moment his Grandmother had come in to purchase a cup of coffee because he didn't know what to do at all. She sat next to his mother and started rubbing soothing circles on her back, "why don't you go call her, make sure she's okay."

Emma simply nodded, still not able to talk properly without her voice cracking with the amount of emotion she was feeling. She slid out from the booth and grabbed her cell phone from the table as she went; she walked out through the door and onto the street pulling up Regina's number.

* * *

**108 Mifflin Street **

"If I don't answer it she'll just keep trying and then eventually she'll come over." Regina said trying to sound indifferent but all the while her heart was pounding painfully against her bruised ribs.

The phone echoed through the mansion whilst she waited for her instructions, "answer it but if you give that slut any reason to think something's wrong I will fucking kill you right now." He kicked her back to the ground as she rose to her feet ready to lash out at him for speaking about Emma in such a way, as she connected painfully to the ground she let out an involuntary pained gasp as tears filled her eyes.

"She is not a slut, she is so much better than any of us you fucking moron."

"Answer the fucking phone or turn it off, your choice." He practically spat in her face, his breath burning her skin like hot coals.

She reached for the phone vibrating on the floor and let out a hiss when his foot came down firmly on her hand, she looked up with confusion into his cold brown eyes that were once filled with such adoration for her – fake adoration of course but it didn't matter anymore, he had finally snapped like she knew he would. The weak always did have the strongest reaction. "Remember what I said Regina, she can't suspect anything or I will take great pleasure in slitting her pretty little throat." She fought the retort that threatened to spill from her lips but instead she forced a tight smile onto her face.

When his foot freed her hand she found it to be shaking, she willed it to stop and hoped he hadn't noticed, it wouldn't do for him to see her fear.

Her heart broke as she looked at the screen and found Emma to be smiling up at her from it; she had assigned a picture to the blonde's name that she had taken on one of their many playful mornings. It physically pained her to break the promise the blonde had been so passionate to hear all those months ago but nothing could be done, not now. She couldn't let Emma put herself in danger for her, not when Henry was still so young. She couldn't do it.

* * *

**3 Months Ago**

_"Hey," she whispered into the blanket of peace surrounding them, her head was resting just below Regina's collarbone as they looked up at the stars. It was cliché, they knew but it wasn't something they had planned upon doing. They had been outside talking still when Emma noticed Regina shivering slightly, the brunette wouldn't admit to being cold so Emma simply stood and lit the gas heater she had brought with her this time, pushed the brunette onto her back on the blanket and snuggled in close. It had been around 3 months since they had first come to the cabin and they had promised that whenever they could they would arrange to come back so after what was now their 4th visit, it was safe to say that this was 'their' place. _

_They had fallen hard for each other and at this point neither could imagine being apart, there was a burning within Regina's stomach whenever she thought of or was near the blonde - the intensity of it was sometimes suffocating but she enjoyed the feeling. She had never felt this way around Daniel; their love was that of a young pair discovering life for the first time, the two women's love was about creating a life that they could live out together for the rest of their time on the earth and whatever came after death. They were sure that there was something out there for them when it all ended, something as strong as what they had could not possibly just evaporate into the air when their last breath was taken - it was something that would out last anything._

_"Yes?" Regina replied softly, her fingers stroking through the blonde curls splayed out across her chest. Emma rotated so that she had her left arm resting across Regina's torso bent at the elbow so that the blonde could rest her head on her hand. They locked eyes for a moment and were just content to look at each other, both marveling in the feeling that arose within them when they were this close, it was incredible and neither ever wanted to stop feeling this way. _

_"Will you make me a promise?" Regina's brow furrowed at this but she merely nodded for Emma to continue. "Look, I know we've both been through a lot of shit in the distant and not so distant past," she noticed the blonde's eyes were beginning to fill with tears but she didn't move, they knew each other well enough now to know when to comfort and when to encourage on, "I need you to promise me that no matter what comes our way, whether it's a parking ticket, an earthquake or another crazy bastard with a grudge against fairytale characters," Regina giggled at this softly but brought it down into a soft smile as she saw the look of passion within the blue/green eyes that intrigued her to no end, "you've got to promise me that no matter what happens, we face it together, that you won't go getting all noble or protective and try to take it on your own shoulders because Regina...you are my life, my other half, my soul mate and I know this shit is crazy but I also know that you feel the same way...I love that we can always feel each other even if that means you end up with more bruises than you bargained for." Regina laughed again at Emma's reference to her clumsiness; it was true that they could feel everything the other felt in waves, just one of the symptoms of true love. It was how Regina felt the love and warmth filling her body in this very moment, it was overwhelming. "But in all seriousness Regina Mills, I plan on spending the rest of my life with you, annoying you, making fun of you, being the reason you laugh, smile, cry, hit, hug...everything. When you take your last breath, I take mine...you die, I die. We go together and I mean that with every ounce of my being because without you, I know there will be nothing to anchor me to this existence, my soul is joined to yours forever so yours leaves, mine's hitchhiking its way up to those pearly gates along with yours...or you know, down to the pits of hell." she laughed when she heard Regina's cry of mock outrage and felt a sharp digit jam into her ribs, "but you know, I don't care where we end up after here...I just know that we will be together always."_

_Regina drank in the practical poetry that had spilled from Emma's mouth, it was unexpected and that's what made it all the more special to her. "I promise you Emma Swan," a tear fell from her own eye and ran down onto her chest to meet the one that had also fallen from the blondes, "you die, I die."_

_"I love you Regina"_

_"I love you Emma."_

* * *

**Present **

"Hi baby," Emma smiled when she heard her favorite silky voice, it soothed her to hear the term of endearment coming from Regina. She needed to know why Regina had been crying though or at the very least why she was feeling so much loss all of a sudden.

"Hi beautiful," Emma paused for a moment to think of the best way to go about this conversation, "um, is everything okay with you?"

Regina had to take in a deep breath as silently as possible so as not to alert Emma to any danger, she knew how attentive the blonde was and so had to use all the energy she could possibly muster to sound as normal as possible. The difficult thing though was that usually the more normal you tried to sound, the crazier you seemed.

"Of course it is dear, what makes you say that?" Her pulse was racing now, the drumming in her ears making it almost impossible to hear the blonde's voice through the phone speaker.

Emma's brow furrowed, that was two terms of endearments in the last 10 seconds. She was probably just being silly, she was trying to find a reason to rush over to the mansion and disturb the brunette, she hated being apart from her no matter how small the time gap. "Nothing I just…I miss you that's all."

Regina's throat constricted at this, how was she supposed to act like everything was fine? She had seen Emma a matter of 2 hours ago and already they were missing each other, now she was going to die all alone and she had to act as though she'd be seeing the blonde in the morning. Oh God, she thought internally, is Emma going to be the one to find me? Tears automatically burned in her eyes at the thought of the woman she loved being the one to find her battered and bloodied on the floor – she knew Emma would blame herself for not being there even though Regina had sent her away, what if she did something stupid in the hopes of reuniting with the brunette? Bile rose into Regina's throat at these thoughts but she had to keep going, she had to keep Emma and their son safe.

"I miss you too but I'll see you in the morning, I just want to get these papers done then you can have me all to yourself tomorrow." She couldn't help the way her voice cracked at the end of the sentence and just prayed that Emma wouldn't hear it.

Emma could feel the fear building within her, something was wrong. "Regina…"

"Yes?" came the reply through the phone.

"I can feel you."

With that the line went dead, terror rose within the brunette, she had forgotten about their connection…how could she be so stupid?! Emma had felt her fears, had felt her sadness and now Regina knew without a doubt that she would be coming. She had to speed things up, maybe if he succeeding in killing her first then Emma's appearance wouldn't matter, she would have to goad him on – he was close to the edge anyway, she could feel the rage coming off of him. It wouldn't take much she was sure of it.

"Okay baby, love you too. Yes, I'll see you tomorrow dear." She saw how he visibly relaxed at her empty words, he couldn't know that Emma suspected anything – he had to feel like he was still in control, Regina knew this feeling very well.

* * *

**Granny's Diner **

Emma's mind was racing, what the fuck is going on over there? She'd felt little twinges of fear from Regina before from things like when Henry had hurt himself of Emma herself was hurt so she was able to gage the enormity of this situation – Regina was terrified …she could feel the fear moving through her body in tremors, she just wished that they the brunette still had her magic, when she did they found they were able to communicate with each other through thought. They had thought that when they had bound the brunette's magic then they joint feelings would disappear as well but to their surprise, as well as Gold's, the connection remained and at this moment in time Emma was more grateful than she knew she could ever put into words. Regina had sounded like she couldn't talk openly and that is what frightened Emma the most – what if someone was there with her? They had learned to accept that Regina would always be faced with empty threats and intimidation tactics from some residents within Storybrooke who didn't want to see her as anything more than the Evil Queen but what if someone were to actually act upon their murderous impulses? She had to move quickly but she didn't want to worry Henry, he would want to follow her and judging by the fact that Regina was trying to keep Emma away, the mansion definitely wasn't a place for their young son.

Composing herself as best as possible she walked back into the diner and over to the booth, her mother looked up with confusion in her eyes but Emma simply shook her head to indicate they couldn't talk about it right now. Her mother only nodded and looked back at the young boy staring down at the table top.

"Henry," he hadn't heard her come in and so jumped a bit from surprise, "you're going to stay here for a little bit with your Grandma, I'll be back soon." When his mouth opened to question she simply held up her hand and continued, "I haven't got time to explain right now but I will later, don't worry everything's fine." She forced her best maternal smile onto her face, relieved when she saw him relax slightly but his suspicion remained – he truly was her son. She turned to walk away but before she reached the door she felt Snow's hand in the crook of her elbow pulling her back to face her, concern was etched all over her gentle features.

"Emma, I don't know what's going on but just…just be careful." She pulled the blonde into a tight hug before returning to her Grandson, she knew there was no way of persuading her daughter from doing whatever it was she was about to do, it frightened her greatly but she reminded herself of the danger she and Charming had willingly put themselves in to stay together. True love makes people do reckless things but usually they paid off, Snow crossed her fingers underneath the table and vowed to do so until her daughter returned to her side safe and well.

Emma was glad for the embrace but wasn't sure if it made her feel better or worse about what was about to transpire. This was obviously going to be a dangerous situation she was about to enter, she just hoped that they would both make it out alive for Henry's sake because there was no doubt in Emma's mind that if Regina died today then Emma would be heading into oblivion right alongside her. With one last tearful look at the mother she had finally found and the son she loved with every ounce of her being she forced herself to leave the diner with her first course of action in her mind: find Gold.

* * *

**The mansion**

"I know what you're doing Regina…" he smiled knowingly at her attempt to anger him, it was working but he couldn't let her know that. He didn't want to let her get off that easily, she had to suffer like he had. He wanted her broken on the floor and begging for the release of death, craving for the feeling of the air leaving her lungs.

He brought a hand down to cup her cheek, impressed by the marks he had managed to leave on her usually flawless face. His thumb trailed over her darkened, almost purple cheekbone. The disdain in her swollen eye was almost missed by him simply because it was practically invisible due to her eyelids almost meeting. That punch had been his favorite by far, the way her head had flew back and connected satisfyingly with the floor had brought a malicious smile onto his face but she never once cried out. He wanted to hear her pain not just see it, he wanted to hear her scream and whimper, to reduce her to the pathetic mess that she had done him. Granted she had never used physical violence on him but her words hurt far more than his strikes could possibly hurt her and so he carried on.

"Come on, Sydney." She finally uttered his name but he didn't get the feeling of satisfaction he was expecting, shockingly he felt the fluttering of nerves in his stomach that she always evoked within him. No, this was his game, not hers. "I thought you could do better than that." She held back a scream as his booted foot connected with her ribs once again, they were surely broken but she was close, she only had to endure it just a little while longer then she would be free and more importantly her family would be safe.

She felt a sharp tug on her scalp as he grabbed a handful of hair and pulled her into the living room and onto the couch; this was when the fear really kicked in. She could take his punches, his scratches and whatever else he wanted to throw at her but not this. With every ounce of strength she had left in her broken body she thrust her legs up and connected her heeled boots with his stomach. He stumbled back and fell when the back of his thighs connected with the coffee table, the glass smashed as his back hit it, a hiss escaped from his lips as the shards dug into his back. Regina had managed to throw herself onto her hands and knees on the floor and was attempting to stand herself up but her legs were like jelly, she was so weak. Upon seeing him begin to rise she forced herself upwards and managed to balance on her feet, she whimpered as she stepped forward, the sharp intake of air causing sharp pains to move throughout her body, her breathing was labored as tears spilled from her eyes. She wasn't sure where she was going but she had to move, she could feel the anger radiating from him and knew that she had done it, she had pushed him enough and now surely he was going to kill her, to end her pain.

She would have to make peace with being found in the condition she was in but she would not let him leave Emma with the knowledge that he had taken her in the way that was purely reserved for the blonde, her true love. She would not let him dirty her body with his own when it had been cared for and worshipped so greatly by the woman she loved and trusted. She would not let him take that away from Emma.

She felt his grip on her hair before she knew he was behind her, without knowing what had happened she felt herself lifted from the ground and into the air. She felt the air whipping past her face and the only thing that entered her mind as she hurtled towards the wall was Emma's promise to her: _I will never let you fall._

Then the darkness came.

* * *

**The Pawn Shop**

"Gold!" Emma practically screamed into the dimly lit pawn shop, "Gold, get the fuck out here!"

"Now, now dearie that is no way to speak to family is it." His voice made her skin crawl but she needed his help, her head was pounding and she was finding it more and more difficult to breath. Regina was being hurt and it took every ounce of her being to not run straight over there, she needed a plan, _just hold on for me baby. _

"How can I unbind Regina's magic?" she rushed it out but knew he would've heard it, a look that Emma had never seen before crossed the Dark One's face: panic. They had sworn that the only event in which Regina should be given back her magic was if there was danger so great that there was no other option, he remembered it well and now seemed concerned. He didn't know whether the danger affected all of the townsfolk, just a few or Regina directly but luckily for Emma he didn't question her motives for asking the question.

He looked upon her trying to gage the severity of the situation, he could practically see the fear flowing from her, "you have to be close to Regina to do so, shouldn't be too hard I'm guessing." His smirk was wiped from his face with her look of fury; she desperately needed the answers and fast. "Since you sealed her magic with love, you need to unbind it with love and I'm guessing you know the way to do that."

"True loves kiss." She stated rather than asked, is that what everything came down to in this damn town?

"Precisely but remember she has to reciprocate it," he warned, her brow furrowed as she thought of what state she may find Regina in.

"Does she have to be conscious to do that?" a look of knowing crossed his face at her question followed by a surprising show of concern, they had always fought but with everything that had happened over the course of their acquaintance with each other he had found it more and more difficult to remain impartial to what happened to Regina. She had suffered through far more than what he had initially intended – he owed her.

Emma's head began to spin as she waited for the answer from Gold, she laid a hand upon the counter top next to her to regain her balance, the pounding in her head stopped as did the restriction on her chest – this did nothing to soothe her, in fact it only panicked her more.

"I can't feel her!" she screamed to no one in particular, "why can't I feel her?!" Emma had picked up on the feeling a long time ago, it wasn't a massively obviously feeling but the tingle was always there, it had taken her a while to realize that it was Regina that she could always feel. She had only assumed that they would feel only the strong emotions from each other and they did but this was something constant and it soothed Emma to no end – they were tethered together.

"She's weakening Emma," Gold spoke softly; he could feel the young woman's desperation, "you need to hurry." No sooner had he uttered the last word than she was tearing out of the shop at a run. She hadn't waited to hear his answer to her question; she may not have liked it. He looked down at the hand resting on his cane, his gaze falling to the wedding ring that bound him to his true love, Belle. His heart constricted when he thought of the possibility of losing her, no he couldn't bear to. _Hurry dearie. _

* * *

**The Sheriff's station **

David was sitting with his legs crossed on top of the office table playing trashcan basketball, the trashcan was almost overflowing with scrunched up scrap paper. Since the curse had broken and everything had calmed down there wasn't much for any of them to do, Leroy was content with fawning after Astrid rather than drink so the station was pretty quiet.

He relaxed back into his chair and found his eyes to be getting heavy, it seemed he and Snow were making up for the last 30 years of being apart and boy were they making up!

As his phone echoed through the building he realized he had closed his eyes and was close to falling asleep on the job, that wouldn't do. He looked at the caller ID and smiled softly to himself.

"Hey there beautiful," yeah, he still had it.

Snow didn't hear the term of endearment, she was worried. She had watched as Emma tore from Gold's building and sprinted towards the mansion looking far too pale – what was going on?

"Charming, you need to get over to Regina's place now. Something's happening and I don't know what but I'm worried about her and Emma!"

"Woah, calm down Snow." He tried to soothe his panicked wife, "what do you mean something's happened? And why would you be worried for Emma?"

"David!" He snapped to attention then, she hated calling him David because it reminded her of the years they had spent separated from each other, "I haven't got time to explain just please hurry!" He stood and was about to reply when he heard her speak again, "take your gun just in case."

His blood ran cold at the thought of what may be happening, Snow tried to steer clear of violence in this world but if she was worried enough to ask him to take his gun along then that is what he was definitely going to do. "Okay sweetheart, I'm leaving now. I'm sure everything will be fine but I'll call you and let you know what we're dealing with." He hung up the phone quickly and holstered his gun, taking a deep breath to prepare; he grabbed the keys to the cruiser and ran from the building.

* * *

**108 Mifflin Street**

He stepped forward cautiously; this could just be a trick to catch him when he's vulnerable…although she did hit the wall pretty hard. There was a trail of blood staining the wall, it had come from the side of her head as she connected upon impact and slid down it. _Shit, _he thought, _I wanted her to last longer than this. _He nudged her lifeless body with the toe of his boot, nothing. Crouching down he turned her over onto her back, her eyes were closed and blood was trickling down from her temple, her dark hair almost black with the congealing substance tangling it. He pressed his index and middle fingers to the pulse point on her neck, it was weak but there was still a heartbeat.

"Come now your highness," he cooed as he brought her head to lie in his lap, he stroked his fingers across her slightly parted lips, "I thought you were stronger than this. That bastard King surely toughened you up, or even your bitch of a mother? Didn't think I could do something like this did you? No. Not poor pathetic Sydney, not him, he couldn't hurt a fly." He practically spat at her unconscious form, "well look how wrong you were, we can go together, be together forever. That idiot blonde doesn't deserve you; she can't love you like I do. Why wouldn't you let me love you?!" His voice was beginning to break now as he held her tighter, pulling her up so that he could cradle her face against his quivering chest. His free hand stroked through her bloodied hair, he rocked back and forth as he sobbed. "It didn't have to be like this, it didn't." he kept repeating the last two words as he quickened his rocking. He didn't notice the intrusion of sound when the back door clicked open.

* * *

**Mifflin Street**

She could see the glorious white mansion at the end of the road; the afternoon sun was bouncing off of the glass windows casting rays of light outwards. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary but Emma had learned from experience that what's on the outside doesn't always reflect what was going on inside. Regina taught her that.

Her heart clenched once again as she felt another flicker of life within her, Regina was fighting.

_Come on baby, stay with me, _Emma pleaded internally that she wouldn't be too late.

_**It hurts. **_

Emma let out an audible gasp as she froze on the sidewalk, was her mind playing cruel tricks on her?

_Regina? _She waited with bated breath.

_**Yes baby, it's me. **_

_Oh my god Regina! Are you okay? What's going on? _

_**I…I don't know…I can't…I can't see Emma.**_

_Baby, I'm coming!_

_**No! **_Emma froze as the voice echoed throughout her mind, _**There's someone here, he…he wants to kill me…it's too dangerous Emma! **_

_I don't care! You are NOT dying today, look at how much we have survived already, we can do this! _

_**Emma, I'm cold…**_

_Regina, don't you fucking dare! _Emma was openly sobbing where she stood, she could hear the fear in Regina's thoughts – she sounded almost childlike in her vulnerability, it broke Emma's heart that she wasn't there to hold her, to comfort her. _You have to hold on for me, you made me a promise and you are not going to break that promise to me, you can't. _

_**Emma…I don't think I…**_

_Regina?...REGINA?!_

The panic really set in now, she knew the brunette wasn't there anymore, Emma hoped with all of her being that she had simply lost consciousness, that she wasn't still feeling the pain but that she was still at least alive. She was going to fucking murder whoever was putting the brunette through this. She set off at a run towards the house but ducked through the hole in the hedge that she and Henry had created one day when practicing for his soccer try outs at school the next day.

* * *

**2 months ago **

"_Emma, you suck!" Henry laughed as he grabbed the ball from his mother's patch of roses before she came out and murdered the pair. "You know if mom finds out about that she will actual kill you?" _

"_Relax kid; your mom can't resist my natural sexual allure." Emma laughed at the face her son pulled, she was glad that she hadn't missed out on the chance to scar him well and proper before he was too old. _

"_You're sick." He laughed as he kicked the ball in her direction once again, she was supposed to be helping him get in some practice before the try outs tomorrow but he felt like he was the one teaching her. "You said you could play?" _

"_I can! I just need to warm up a little." She furrowed her brow and held her tongue between her teeth as she aimed the kick in his direction, it was closer this time but still not as close as it should've been. _

"_Emma, snails warm up quicker than you!" he teased as he easily kicked the ball back to her, he shook his head in amusement as she rolled the ball up her leg and proceeded to bounce it on her knee repetitively. "Okay, okay that's impressive." _

_She smiled as she kept the ball going and switched between knees, she hadn't lost it completely. "David Beckham's got nothing on me kid." She gave the ball one last bounce and swung her leg into the air to connect her foot for a kick before falling back to the ground, she was beaming up until the point when the ball went over her sons head and straight through Regina's prestigious hedge surrounding the garden. She winced as it cut through and left a circular hole in its wake, Henry turned and mirrored her expression. Before she could even begin to speak, a very firm voice came from the open kitchen window. _

"_Emma Swan! You come here this instance." It was Regina's mom voice and it sent shivers down Emma's spine every time, not the good kind either. _

* * *

**Present**

She easily ducked into the back garden; adrenaline was flowing through her veins as she went. She wasn't sure which part of the house the brunette was in but she also didn't want to alert Regina's attacker to her presence by just looking through the windows of the mansion, he could do something rash and that most definitely wouldn't be good for the brunette. A rustling to her left had her looking towards the front garden but upon finding nothing she let her thoughts go back to the task ahead, she had to save her, she couldn't die, she wouldn't.

Emma almost screamed in fright when she felt something touch her shoulder, turning she found David's eyes staring back at her.

"David, what the fuck?!" she fumed but kept her voice to a harsh whisper.

Luckily he had the sense to whisper also, "Snow told me something was going on so I came to help."

"Are you armed?" she asked looking him over for signs of a weapon.

"Do I need to be?" he asked with his brows furrowed in confusion and concern.

She looked at him sympathetically, he shouldn't have come but now that he was here she couldn't find it in her to turn him away – she needed all the help she could get if she wanted to succeed in this, Henry was not going to be made an orphan today.

"I think so yes, someone's in there with Regina," his eyebrows shot into his hairline.

"Is she okay? Is she hurt?" he asked, compassion filling every syllable, something she thought she would never hear coming from her father, he had been less than pleased that she had fallen in love with the once Evil Queen but like Snow he had made the effort to accept it, although it had and still was taking a lot of effort on his part – he knew how much Regina meant to his daughter and vice versa, they were made for each other.

The tears started to fill Emma's eyes, it was always the way when someone asked how you were actually feeling, when you tried to express the sheer devastation that was eating you up inside, the feeling that you were going to lose the person who made your life worth living, the worthlessness and powerless feeling that hit when you couldn't get to them to help. "No, I…I th-think she's…d-d-dying." She had to fight hard to quiet down the sobs that were threatening to shake her whole body – whatever she was feeling out here, Regina was feeling it ten times more inside. They had to get inside.

"What's the plan?" David knew not to indulge Emma at this point; she needed to be strong if they were to succeed with their plan. Emma was grateful beyond measure for his clear head at this point; he was keeping her from succumbing to the darkness threatening to take a hold of her heart.

She used her sleeves to wipe her face down before turning to him again, "I need to get to her, I need to unbind her magic so that she can heal quicker and kick this bastard's ass whoever her is. I can't lose her Dad."

He was taken aback by her use of his fatherly connection to her but remembered where they were and what they were about to do, "Emma, we need to know how bad the situation is. We need to know who her attacker is and if they are armed." Emma shook her head at him.

"All I know is that it's a man, she only mentioned one but she couldn't say who he was." Emma's voice was cracking with the strain of keeping herself together. "We just need to get in there; I don't think she's got much time left."

David nodded and indicated with his head to the back door, Emma nodded at his train of thought. He stepped in front of her pulling his gun out as he went, their best bet was the silent approach, hopefully in gaining the element of surprise they could disarm the attacker if he was in fact armed or at least throw him off long enough for Emma to get to Regina – David would take care of him.

Her heart was racing as she watched David reaching slowly for the door handle, Regina always left it open for the blonde to come through after work – she enjoyed the feeling of Emma's arms around her waist whilst she was cooking, the surprise of her love returning from work unexpectedly and showering her with kisses.

* * *

**2 months ago **

_Emma's feet dragged as she made her way up the path leading to the mayoral mansion, she had had a long day in work and was very close to ripping Leroy's drunken face off at one point – she just wanted to get home, put her feet up and rip Regina's clothes off. She was almost at the front door when she heard a sound she hadn't before, it made her heart skip slightly. She furrowed her brow as she tried to work out where the sound was coming from. Stepping down from the porch she made her way around to the back garden, maybe Regina was picking apples from her tree. _

_As she rounded the corner and the tree came into sight she realized she was wrong, she caught a whiff of whatever delicious meal Regina had thrown together for that evening and found the kitchen window to be open, she could see the brunette standing over the stove with her back to Emma. She was practically gliding around the kitchen and singing as she went. The blonde's knees practically went weak whenever Regina spoke to her but the tender melodic quality filling every line of every verse of the song that the brunette was singing was filling Emma's heart with warmth – no matter how much Regina had shared with her about her life or how much time they spent together Emma realized that the brunette would never cease to amaze her – it was something that excited her greatly. _

_She walked towards the back door and as luck would have it, she found it to be open. Being as silent as she possibly could she slipped off her work boots and padded into the kitchen towards the unsuspecting brunette. She waited until she had placed the wooden spoon back into the simmering liquid on the stove and slid her hands around Regina's waist. She felt her tense with fear at the intrusion into her personal space until she caught onto Emma's familiar scent. She sighed contentedly as she inhaled the smell of worn leather and the ingredient that was uniquely Emma, she leaned back into the contact and placed her hands over the ones that rested held her so lovingly. _

"_I've missed you today," she breathed out with her eyes closed to truly take in the moment. _

"_Only today?" Emma teased as she tightened her grip on her favorite brunette, she felt the woman's stomach shake lightly as she chuckled, "I've missed you too baby." _

_Regina rotated in the embrace to face Emma, "you've never called me that," she said studying Emma's eyes, she watched as the blonde's insecurities flooded them and smiled gently. _

"_Do…do you not like it?" she was so happy but she was still waiting for the bottom to drop out, it's what had happened to her her whole life. Something always happened to ruin it. _

_Regina leaned in and captured the blonde's lips in a tender but passionate kiss, she skillfully opened the blonde's mouth with her lips and slipped her warm tongue in to massage Emma's with her own, her hands found Emma's neck to hold it in place as she deepened their kiss. She would never get tired of the feeling she got when they were so close, after a few gloriously slow minutes she pulled away for air. _

_Emma's eyes were closed still as she took in a shaky breath, Regina would never understand the effect she had on the blonde, _damn woman. _She finally found her voice after a few minutes although she kept her eyes closed not wanting to leave the moment just yet, "I'm sorry, I didn't catch that – could you repeat it please?" She felt the brunette chuckle before she leaned in again to claim the lips that would always belong to her. _

* * *

**Present **

Fire flooded through Emma's veins as she took in the sight before her, upon entering the house they made their way quietly through the kitchen to come to the foyer, a streak of blood along the floor almost stopped her heart completely before she heard a man's voice, it was too low to make out what he was saying but she could hear the sobs that accompanied it, he was vulnerable.

The cushions on Regina's usually pristine coach were lying haphazardly along it and on the floor; it turned the blonde's stomach to think of why they may be like that, her hand found her father's bicep to steady herself. He still had his gun aimed directly in front of him. Emma scanned the room for any clue as to who the man could be, if they found out his identity it may make the next part of their plan a whole lot easier, maybe they could talk him down enough to move away from Regina.

They were splattering's of blood staining Regina's cream rug near the broken coffee table, the crimson shone as the light hit the broken glass. Emma found breathing to be something she no longer knew how to do; she was becoming light headed as her mind flitted through every possible scenario that could've taken place that day – how long had this man been in Regina's house before Emma had realized something was wrong? She hated herself for letting it get this far, what kind of savior couldn't sense danger?

She needed to be strong though, this was about saving Regina's life, not her failure. They slowly stepped through the door of the living room and both found the crouched over form of the attacker at the same time, before she could stop herself Emma spoke out in her confusion.

"Sydney?"

The former reporter's head snapped up and around at the voice, his glare evident as he let Regina's body drop back to the floor with a sickening thud, he stood slowly and reached for the gun hidden in his waistband until David's booming voice stopped him.

"Don't you dare Glass; I will end your life so fast you won't even get the chance to blink."

The fear in Sydney's eyes was evident and Emma would have noticed it were she not transfixed with the sight of her true love lying broken on the floor, her legs were bent at an awkward angle – they didn't appear to be broken but it couldn't have been a comfortable position, Emma couldn't move, she was frozen where she stood, she couldn't breathe.

"EMMA!" David screamed to bring her back from where she had disappeared to, "quick, you need to unbind her magic."

Emma nodded dumbly still not aware of everything around her, which was until she heard Sydney's sneer from across the room.

"Some savior you are Swan," her eyes were on him now, gone was the emptiness – there was only sheer fury, "I've had her here for hours begging for death, screaming my name, she felt so good when I was in her – I can understand why you fell for the slut." She moved so fast he didn't even see her coming, in a flash she was on him, her hands tight around his neck as she attempted to squeeze the life from him. She could see only red as she could feel the life leaving him, she felt the pressure on her shoulders as David tried to remove her from him, "you're not like him. Don't give him the satisfaction, that's the easy way out." She released him as David's words got through to her, he wasn't getting away that easy – death was the coward's way out, he didn't deserve that kind of mercy. It didn't stop her from bringing her fist down onto his face with a satisfying crunch, blood pumped from his broken nose and he fell into unconsciousness.

"Emma, go to Regina before it's too late."

Panic rose within her as she realized how much time she had wasted upon finding Sydney crouched over Regina; she looked to the still motionless brunette. She couldn't will herself to stand so instead she crawled over to her love, her breath ragged as she prayed her fingers would feel a pulse running through Regina's body. Her heart almost burst when she felt it, although weak, it meant that she was still there – there was still a chance.

Emma hadn't realized she was crying until her tears ran down Regina's lifeless face as if trying to heal the open wounds and dark bruises that tainted her flawless features. Softly she lifted the brunette into her arms, mindful of the trauma her body had withstood – she was so small in Emma's arms, it broke her heart and she let the sobs take control for a moment as she held the woman she loved.

"Regina, please don't leave me," it came out as a choked whisper, if she turned around she would've found her father to be choking back his own sobs, he was broken hearted for her and scared that Regina wouldn't actually come back – he knew Emma wouldn't survive it if she died.

"Please, please don't leave me. You promised me." She couldn't hold herself up let alone Regina; she carefully placed her upon the floor on her back and lowered herself to lie next to her. "You die, I die remember, we've got a whole lot of life left to live baby." She reached for Regina's hand and interlaced their fingers, both of their cheeks were resting on the carpeted floor, the blood from Regina's temple had stopped flowing at this point but the crimson trail contrasted shockingly with the brunette's olive skin. Emma brought her free hand up to trace random patterns on Regina's face as she continued to speak; she needed the contact with the brunette.

"I know for a fact that I haven't had my last fight with you yet, I can't have. I need to hear you shouting at me for leaving my clothes on the floor when the laundry basket is right there, I need to hear you singing in the kitchen when you think nobody's listening, I have to see you smile again because it is easily the most beautiful thing I have ever witnessed. Henry needs you to scare away his new girlfriends because you know how hopeless I am at the 'mom face'," she let out a sad chuckle at the admission, "I need you by my side when he graduates and abandons us for college." her tears were soaking into the carpet as they came out hard and fast, "I need to hear you whining at the end of the day about your aching feet because you can't give up your addiction to impossibly high but incredibly sexy heels, I need to feel you next to me at night before I go to sleep, I need to feel your heart beating faster every time we kiss," she moved her hand from Regina's face to her chest but she couldn't feel the familiar thud of the brunette's heart, she inched forward to place her lips against Regina's and almost died on the spot when she felt no response, it hadn't worked but she couldn't stop the words from spilling from her mouth, she couldn't stop talking for fear of having to accept that she was actually gone. She would talk forever if it meant she didn't have to move away from her favorite place – next to the brunette.

"I need to hear you laughing when I'm being a complete idiot because we both know how often that is. I need you next to me, growing old with me. You promised me, I need to you to help me face the big bag world, I can't do it on my own."

Her body shook with the force of her sobs, she had completely forgotten about her father's presence but he didn't mind. He had lowered himself to sit on the couch with his head in his hands. Tears were falling freely from his blue eyes as he felt Emma's pain piercing his flesh like daggers.

"I'm sorry Regina," she choked out burrowing her face into the crook of Regina's neck, "I wasn't here to catch you, I broke my promise but please," it was getting harder to carry on speaking now, she felt like her throat was closing up, if Regina wasn't here then there was no use for Emma's voice anymore, "please don't break your promise, I will spend my whole life making it up to you but please don't go. I can't live without you; I can't go on knowing that you are no longer in my world."

She was so busy sobbing she hadn't noticed the hand now stroking slowly through her hair.

"Please, please…please." It was all she could manage now as her grief took hold of her.

"Then I won't." came the whisper from beside her, Emma stopped shaking suddenly and went stiff. David's head snapped up from the sound as he looked over to the two forms lying side by side on the living room floor.

Slowly Emma pulled away from her place buried in Regina's neck and shifted her gaze upwards, a strangled cry escaped from her when her eyes met with her favorite deep brown ones. She couldn't breathe, she couldn't fathom what was happening – it had worked…had it?

Regina's bruised and bloodied hand came to rest upon Emma's tear stained face as she used her slightly magically renewed energy to pull the blonde closer. She pressed her lips tenderly to her true love's before she whispered softly, "you die, I die right?" at Emma's small nod she continued, "well I don't know about you baby but…I'm not ready to go just yet."

* * *

**A/N: Okay, so that was A LOT longer than what I had planned but I just couldn't stop! Please let me know what you thought – I have to admit that I was tearing up whilst writing Emma's monologue but that's me – I would really love to know what you all thought, did I pull the ending off? Should that be the ending or would you like me to continue on? Did I get the characters right? Did I write enough Emma/Regina moments to do justice to their love? **

**Sorry I'm an extremely insecure writer haha, please don't hesitate to review (good or bad), you can PM me if you don't feel comfortable posting your comments publicly but please don't hesitate to do so. Hope you enjoyed :D**


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